Cheyenne City Councilman Richard Johnson says he still hopes an agreement can be reached to allow for a contract between the City of Cheyenne and Laramie County governments and the Cheyenne Animal Shelter.

Johnson also is a voting member of the Cheyenne Animal Shelter Board, representing the city.

He appeared on the ''Weekend In Wyoming" program on Saturday on AM 650, KGAB.

Prior to Johnson's appearance on the show, Townsquare Media's Joy Greenwald reported on Thursday:

The Cheyenne Animal Shelter says it received notice Thursday afternoon that the City of Cheyenne and Laramie County plan to end their long-standing contract with the shelter.

Under the current contract, which expires June 30, the shelter gets paid $800,000 a year to serve as the city and county’s designated open-intake shelter.

You can read more about the contract issues here. Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins also commented on the subject on Friday.

In his Saturday talk show interview, Johnson said he thinks social media is helping to create animosity between the two sides. ''This is why I hate social media so much" Johson said. "They try to make enemies of the governing body and the Animal Shelter. We're not enemies. I'm actually friends with the people I'm on the board with."

He said that one problem under the current contract is that it's not clear what the taxpayers are actually paying for at the shelter. ''As elected officials, as the commissioners and the council, it's actually our jobs to make sure we are getting the best bang for the taxpayer's dollars. And that's where we're coming from." But Johnson also says "I get both sides" of the contract issue.

In regard to social media posts on the contract dispute on Thursday, Johnson said he thought the shelter's post was "clickbait" designed to stir up emotions against the city council. But he said he also was not happy with the city's post in response, adding "I think we need to reign it in a little bit."

All in all, Johnson says he is still hopeful some kind of agreement can be reached to allow for a new contract after the current one between the city and county and the shelter expires on June 30. You can hear his entire ''Weekend In Wyoming'" interview below.

 

 

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